IMPERIAL COUNTY  Every year for decades roughly 150,000 people visit, either by dirt road or by boat, the Picacho State Recreation Area along the lower Colorado River roughly 25 miles north of Yuma.

Generations of San Diegans, looking for an out-of-the way camping, boating, and hiking vacation have gone there. But the area’s future is in grave jeopardy.

Picacho was one of the 70 state parks targeted for closure last year because of the state’s financial problems.

Dozens of those parks, including Palomar Mountain State Park, have since been saved by agreements between the state and private, nonprofit organizations which have raised enough money to cover the gap between revenues and costs of operation.

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To find out more about the effort to save the park, or to join and make a donation, visit friends4picacho.org.

But those who love Picacho have gotten into the game very late. Just a few weeks ago the nonprofit Friends4Picacho group organized with a goal of raising about $60,000 this year, hoping to stave off the immediate closure. So far they’ve raised only a tenth of that sum.

No one seems to know if Picacho really will be shuttered July 1, the deadline set for all parks on the closure list. Some have said it could take many months. And no one seems to know for sure if the $60,000 would even matter since the longer-term plans are dependent on a cost-sharing agreement being reached between the state and the federal Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation, which has leased the area to the state for years. Negotiations are ongoing, said Gail Sevrens, the acting director of the park’s department’s Coloroado Distict, which overseas most of the state parks in San Diego and Imperial counties.

“We are all working really hard to see if there is another solution,” Sevrens said.

Picacho encompasses about 7,000 acres and 9 miles of riverfront property. Along with its backwater lakes, the park is a haven for fish, wildlife and waterfowl. There are 54 campsites, three boat launces, and four boat-in camps.

Many visitors in the colder months come to the park via a dirt road. During the summer most come from the river, stopping for the night during canoe trips.

“People come out for a night and a week later they’re still here,” said Sue Barney, the park’s only ranger.

Many of the visitors are from the San Diego area (175 miles to the west) as well as Yuma, Tucson and Phoenix, Barney said.

Lorie Long, a member of the Friends4Picacho, said the initial goal is to raise enough money quickly to keep the park open beyond July 1. After that plans need to be made to find ways to cut the cost of operating the park, which includes currently spending up to $80,000 a year on diesel fuel to power generators used to pump water and to provide electricity to a few staff residences and an office. A solar power system is being contemplated, Long said.

Efforts will also be made to increase the public’s awareness of the area so that more day use and camping fees can be collected, she added.

The park sits near an early 1900s mining town. Historical artifacts from the mining operation are still evident. It was the first registered town in Imperial Valley, Barney said.